Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone has been unable to move into a new apartment at the Vatican, because the firm remodeling the space has declared bankruptcy.

The former Vatican Secretary of State had been scheduled to take up residence this week in a large apartment in the San Carlo palace, inside the Vatican grounds. But the Italian daily Il Messaggero reports that the move has been delayed because of the collapse of the firm that had been contracted to combine two existing apartments into one spacious unit with a gracious rooftop terrace.

Reports that Cardinal Bertone was moving into a luxurious apartment had stirred complaints in Rome, because the cardinal is a Salesian priest who has taken a vow of poverty and because Pope Francis has advocated a modest style of living for Vatican clerics.

Cardinal Bertone remains, for now, in the apartment traditionally reserved for the Secretary of State. His successor, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, has taken his cue from the Pontiff and taken a small apartment in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, the Vatican guest house, where the Pope himself lives. The situation is reminiscent of the one that developed when Cardinal Bertone became Secretary of State, but his own predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, remained in place for weeks before finally vacating his office and apartment at the Vatican.

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